Insecticide diffuser



Nov. 7, 1950 R. A. COOPER 2,529,245

' INSECTICIDE DIFFUSER Filed March 27, 1946 I/vvm TOR, ROBERT/4. Coop/5R,

Patented Nov. 7, 1950 UNITED'VSTATES, PATENT OFFICE IN SECTICIDE DIFFUSER Robert A. Cooper, Bloom-ington, Ind., assignor to Paul M. Laymon, Spencer, Ind.

Application March 27, 1946; Serial No. 657,582

. 4 Claims. 11

This invention relates to means for diffusing an. insect killer such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, commonly known as DDT. The object of this invention is to difliuse the material by intimately mixing it in the smoke of the products of combustion of certain materials to the end that the insect killing materials, hereafter termed an insecticide, is conveyed thereon throughout the room being treatedto carry it into the fabrics and into cracks and crevices, as well as to deposit it over wall surfaces and the like. I Heretofore, the diffusion. of the insecticide has been attempted to be carried out by means of mixing the insecticide in alight oil and then spraying or attempting to atomize the oil to obtain a finely divided state. The difiiculty however has been that the insecticide isnot broken up. into sufficiently smallparts so as to obtain the necessary coating of walls and objects within the space bein treated.

A further primary object of the invention is to provide means which may be operated simply by igniting a fuse and then closing off the room being treated to permit the means to operate thereafter in an automatic manner all without danger of igniting any combustible matter therearound and all without harming or injuring in any way the'fabrics, finishes, or coatings of materials within the room; Furthermore the means so employed may be safely stored and handled without any danger of preignition or breakin'gout of containers and the like. Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of the 'one particular form of the invention as now best known to me, as illustrated in the accompanyin drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in vertical elevation and partial section of a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2, a top and Fig. '3, a view in transverse horizontal section on a line 3-3'in Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views in the drawing.

A can i0 generally cylindrical in shape is made to have .a, bottom "ll either integrally united therewith or attached thereto asindicated in Fig. 1 by seaming. The wall and floor of the can l0 are preferably madeof metal or at least of. some non-fragile. fire resistant material. "Over the bottom IOI' fioor ll is placed a'layer IZ' of arefractory material such as fire clay in-ord'er to prevent transmission of heat fromthe topplan View also in partial section I is cylindrical in shape to permit it being slipped into the can !0 from the top side with a close fit. It is in this candle" I 3 that the insecticide above indicated is mixed.

This candle i3 is composed of a number of ingredients that are incorporated in a rather wide range of percentages of the total mix. One highly eifective candle composition'cont'ains the 1 following materials in the percentages. indicated:

Percent by weight Zinc powder to Hexachlorethane 22 to 25 Ammonium perchlorate 10 to 24 Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane 5 to 20 Calcium carbonate .25 to 5 Orange shellac .25 to 15 Ammonium chloride .25 to 4 Castor oil .5 to 2 Linseed oil .5 to 2 All of those ingredients are thoroughly and intimately intermixed and then compressed under extremely high pressure such as in the neighborhood of 3,600 lbs. per square inch. When this composition burns, an extremely dense, white smoke is produced in large volumes which tends to difiuse into the atmosphere quite primarily produce the insecticide vehicle of the dense, white smoke. The calcium carbonate (serving as an anti-acid and filler); the orange shellac (acting as a moisture repellant); and the ammonium chloride (servin as a cooling agent) all control 'the rate of dispersion, and

zinc particles, less-being required as the sizes of the particles increase. The castor and linseed oils serve as binding agents for the entire mass.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the candle 13 when rested upon the refractory material l2 in the can I!) has an upper elevation substantially at or above the middle of the can 10. Across the top of the candle I3 is spread a layer M of a starting mixture. This starting mixture contains from 10 to 50 per cent of ammonium perchlorate; 20 to 60 per cent of zinc powder; and 20 to 60 per cent of antimony powder. As indicated in the drawing, Fig. 1, this layer [4 of the starting mixture is quite thin in comparison to the height of the handle [3, being in about the proportion thereto indicated by the drawing.

Over the starting mixture layer I4 is placed an inverted cup l5 slidingly fitted within the can H) to be opened across its underside with the floor l6 uppermost. In this fioor I6 is provided an opening ll to one side of the center of the floor 46. Then over the first cup I5 is placed a second inverted cup 18 to have the rim of its wall resting against the outermost portion of the floor [6 of the lower cup [5. The fioor l9 (then in the uppermost position) terminates in the plane of the top end of the can l0. This floor [9 is provided with an opening 20 therethrough and the cup I8 is so positioned as to have this opening 25 offset to one side of the axis of the can oppositely from the offset position of the hole H. In fact the cups [5 and IBare duplicates one of the other and the positioning of the opening I! and 20 is had simply by rotating one cup about its axis in respect to the other cup.

Now to retain all of the various elements so far described within the can l0 there is fixed across the upper end of the can H) a top 2| to be fixed thereto by any suitable means,.herein shown as in the usual manner by seaming. This top 21 has an upturned neck 22 to which is removably secured a cover cap 23, cap 23 beingherein shown as telescoping over the neck 1 22 and screwthreadedly engaging therewith.

A commercial firecracker fuse 24'has a length exposed across the top side of the floor I9, from which length the fuse 24 is carried, down through the opening 20, across and down through the opening ll, and then to "a length 25 resting horizontally on the top side of the starting mixture M. This length 25' is cemented'or glued to the layer M by an igniting composition such as about 25% of black powder and 75% of a nitro-cellulose cement, this composition being in'a pasty or semifluid state initially to fiow around the fuse length 25 and be in intimate contact with the top surface of the starting mixture 14.

The can II] with its contents all as above described is placed within a room to be treated. The cover 23 is removed and the upper exposed end of the fuse 24 is ignited. The length of the fuse is such that the operator may have sufficient time following the igniting of the fuse to leave the room and close the exit door. Immediately the fuse burns down to the starting mixture l4, this mixture is ignited, and in turn it ignites the candle. The whole procedure Of oxidation proceeds quickly but without explosive effect and the products of combustion escape first through the role I1 and then across and upwardly through the hole 20 in such manner that these floors I6 and l 9 serve as baffles to prevent any solid particles from being thrown out of the'can I0 through the neck 22. All that escapesis a' dense, white smoke or fog that rapidlyfills the room from side wall to side wall and from top to bottom. This smoke is thoroughly impregnated with insecticide which is then in an extremely finely divided state to be most effective in its insecticide properties. Since the temperature of combustion is controlled to be well below the decomposition temperature of around 1390 F. of the insecticide, the insecticide is not broken down in any manner but does become extremely well dispersed throughout the smoke] v While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that many changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

' 1. A device for diffusing an insecticide comprising a can, a fire resistant floor in the can; a candle over said floor, within which candle an insecticide is dispersed; vertically spaced bafiles in the can over said candle, said bafiles having staggered passageways therethrough; anda candle igniting fuse extending past said bafiies to have an outer exposed end portion and an inner end portion adjacent said candle for initiating ignition thereof; said candle comprising said insecticide, a mixture of powdered zinc, hexachlorethane, ammonium perchlorate,calcium carbonate, orange shellac, ammonium chloride, and a binding agent of at least one of the group of castor oil and linseed oil, said candle being firmly compacted.

2. A device for diffusing an insecticide comprising a can, a fire resistant fioor in the can; a candle over said floor, within which candle the insecticide is dispersed; vertically spaced bafiles in the can over said candle, said baffles having staggered passageways therethrough; and a candle igniting fuse extending past said baflies to have an outer exposed end portion and an inner end portion adjacent said candle for initiating ignition thereof; said candle comprising a mixture of powdered zinc, hexachlorethane, ammonium perchlorate, calcium carbonate, orange shellac, ammonium chloride, and a binding agent of at least one of the group of castor oil and linseed oil, said candle being firmly compacted; said insecticide consisting of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane in finely divided forms.

3. A device for diffusing an insecticide comprising a can, a fire resistant floor in the can; a candle over said floor, within which candle the insecticide is dispersed; vertically spaced baffles in the can over said candle, said baffles having staggered passageways therethrough; and a candle igniting fuse extending past said bafiles to have an outer exposed end portion and an inner end portion adjacent said candle for initiating ignition thereof; said candle comprising a mixture of powdered zinc, hexachlorethane, ammonium perchlorate, calcium carbonate, orange shellac, ammonium chloride, and a binding agent of at least one of the group of castor oil and linseed oil, said candle being firmly compacted; said candle comprising a mixture of powdered zinc, 45 to 50% by weight; hexachlorethane, 22 to 25%; ammonium perchlorate, 10 to 24%; calcium carbonate, .25 to 5%; shellac, .25 to 15%; ammonium chloride, .25 to 4%; castor oil, .5 to 2%; and linseed oil, .5 to 2%; plus the insecticide consisting of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, 5to20,%.-.,

4. A device for diffusing an insecticide comprising a can having a heat resistant floor; a one piece combustible candle containing the insecticide seated on the floor; a pair of vertically spaced apart baflies secured to extend transverse- 1y across said can, spaced above said candle to define two diffusing chambers within the can above said candle, each of said baffles having a hole therethrough in mis-alignment one with the other; a fuse attached to said candle and carried 10 through both of said baflies to have a terminal length above said uppermost baffle; and a cover 6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,841 Bradner Jan. 3, 1928 847,887 Bergmann Mar. 19, 1907 1,634,354 Gross et a1. July 5, 1927 1,954,517 Bousquet et al Apr. 10, 1934 2,294,415 McBride Sept. 1, 1942 2,365,261 Hitt Jan. 2, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country Date 547,871 Great Britain Sept. 15, 1942 

